The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Award-winning British novelist Almond
(Kit’s Wilderness, 1999; The Fire-Eaters, 2004, etc.) mines the tragic Greek myth of
Orpheus and Eurydice in this modern-day love story, told in the voice of Claire
Wilkinson, a 17-year-old poet.

Claire loves her childhood friend
Ella Grey, and they are “young and bright and free” with their kisses and
sleepovers until…“Ha!” Everything changes one spring day when Claire encounters
Orpheus, a wild, black-haired, lyre-playing wanderer in a purple coat and Doc
Martens, on Northumberland’s Bamburgh Beach. Claire calls Ella on her cellphone
from the boozy bacchanalian beach party so her friend can hear the mesmerizing
songs that Orpheus plays, enchanting the dolphins, the sea, even the pebbles
and sand…and soon wishes she hadn’t. When Orpheus sings for Ella Grey, she
falls madly in love with him, sight unseen. “Go to Hell, Orpheus,” Claire whispers. The rest of the tale
mirrors the myth: Ella and Orpheus marry, Ella dies by snakebite, and Orpheus
enters the beastly Underworld to rescue her from Death, a section of the book
effectively distinguished by black paper with white type.

Almond brings his hypnotic lyricism
to this darkly romantic tale that sings of the madness of youth, the ache of
love, and the near-impossibility of grasping death. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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